A/N: This chapter is more of a 'bridge' to the rest of the story. Enjoy!
Storm before the Calm
With their vacation several months out, Spike and Winnie fell back into their usual dynamic. Which was fine with him, this way he didn't have to think about the upcoming Italy trip. Not that he wasn't looking forward to it - he was. It's just that he didn't want to over analyze his and Winnie's relationship. Did they even have a relationship? Aside from friendship? She said she didn't date cops. But she does go on vacation with them - overseas vacations at that. What does that mean? Sometimes he just exhausts himself thinking about it.
So - he decided not to think about it anymore. Didn't seem like Winnie did. Ok, every once in a while she would mention some place she would like to visit or bring in some crap she downloaded from the internet about Italy. He would look it over and always find himself agreeing with her.
Finally a pleasant distraction came along - Jules and Sam announced their wedding. Well, he thought it would distract him. Only it didn't. Just made him realize how much he wanted to be the one getting married - to Winnie. He wanted to be the one settling down, starting a new life, starting a family.
Now he felt foolish. Why was he spending time with a woman who thought of him only as a friend? If he was really serious about settling down, he should be trying to find a girl to settle down with! Except he thought he had - Winnie. Plus he already committed to taking her to Italy. For some strange reason he felt like he couldn't go out with any other girls. He wondered if Winnie was seeing someone. He didn't think so - well he hoped not. His mother had told him that there were some eligible young ladies in her neighborhood. She kept telling him about them until he mentioned that he was bringing Winnie to Italy. He figured his mom felt she didn't need to match-make anymore. That somehow he had managed to find a girl on his own.
The day of Jules and Sam's wedding finally arrived. All of Team One was invited, of course. The only problem was after the ceremony, they had to work! Unfortunately, the only day that Sam's dad had open was one where Team One was on shift. So, Jules, the ultimate planner, had just worked around it. The ceremony would be in the morning and the reception would be after shift. Everyone was looking forward to it. Spike especially so. Then he found out Winnie wouldn't be able to attend the ceremony. One of the other dispatchers had an emergency, so Winnie had to cover for them. Spike thinks he was more upset than she was. Well, he thought, there's always the reception!
Trouble was things didn't go his way. That day was one of the worst of his life. A crazy bomber unleashed his insane wrath on the city. Both Donna and Jimmy were killed in a blast. Ed's son Clark was hurt. Sam almost getting blown up. Boss getting shot. Yeah, that was a day he won't forget for a long time - will probably never forget.
It's now a month after that fateful day. Spike is lying in his bed, thinking. His thoughts went to Sam and Jules' wedding. He remembers flirting with Winnie after the wedding while they were on shift, showing her the pictures he took with his cell. He thinks he had convinced her to attend the reception. At least he had hoped so. His plan was to stick by her side, maybe dance with her. Show her that he can be fun outside of work. Then all hell had broken loose. Spike doesn't want to relive that part. He's grateful that at least Boss is stable, that he's going to be ok. Except that Boss will probably not make it back to active duty. Not make it back to Team One. His thoughts drift to Donna and Jimmy. Things will never be the same again.
Commander Holleran had called a meeting a week after the bombings and the funerals. Both Team One and Team Three were now shorthanded. Holleran said he would work with Ed and combine the two teams to make one team until they can hold trials for replacements. The existing members would be rotated in and out. They would be answering only low-priority calls. Holleran encouraged them to use vacation time. Get away, spend time with loved ones.
His thoughts shifted back to the present. His vacation was still 5 weeks away. He had told Ed he would rather go ahead and work. Ed had protested since Spike had plenty of vacation time to take, but in the end he convinced Ed that it would be better for him to work. Not like he had a family to fall back on. Well, except for Team One - but they had their own families.
Winnie had went back to work a week after the bombings. Spike hardly had the time, or the energy, to interact much with her. He just needed to get his head wrapped around all the changes.
Slowly things started to return to normal – well, as normal as they could be. He was beginning to spend more time at Winnie's desk, especially since they weren't expected to go on critical hot calls.
"Hey Spike! I found this on the internet. Wanna take a look?" Winnie held out a sheet of paper to him as he approached her desk.
"What'd you find?" Spike was grateful for the normalcy. He took the paper from her and read it over. It was a walking tour of Anzio, hitting on the more historic sites of the city. Spike was impressed. All of her other 'finds' had been of Rome.
"I think this would be fun. We can invite your mom and aunts to come along. Make a day of it." She was looking at him with a grin.
He made a face at her, "Are you sure you want to invite THEM?"
"Come on Spike! How bad can it be? Will be fun! You yourself said your mom hasn't had time to get out and explore her new home." As she was talking she was organizing some papers on her desk.
"Ok. When I call her tomorrow I'll mention it. See what she says." In his mind, his mom would say 'No - take your beautiful girlfriend with you! You don't need me hanging around! Go have some fun!' Yeah, that's what he wants to happen. What WILL actually happen is that he'll end up hauling all their asses around!
Before either of them could utter another word they heard Ed, "Spike, round up the others and meet me in the briefing room in 5. We got a warrant to serve." Spike just smiled apologetically at Winnie and did as he was told.
A few hours later, with the warrant executed without a hitch, he and Jules were in the truck, heading back to the barn, him driving.
"Sooo, Michelangelo. Always the man of mystery! I wanna know about you and our fair Winnie!"
Spike glanced over at her and smirked, "What's to know? Just two friends going on vacation together."
"Cut the bullshit Spike! This is me you're talking to! So spill!"
Spike feigned annoyance, "Nothing to tell. I asked her if she wanted to go to Italy, she said yes." He was hoping Jules would give up this line of questioning.
Fat chance of that! This was Jules he was talking to.
"C'mon Spike! Don't act like you don't have a THING for Winnie. Not like the rest of us are blind you know."
Spike didn't say anything, really didn't know what to say. Was he so transparent that everyone could tell? Leah had thought so.
It was Jules who spoke again, "You know Spike. Sometimes you want something really bad but you don't think it's possible". She was twirling her wedding band around on her finger, making her point. "Then one day you realize that if you really want it you're going to have to work your ass off to get it."
Spike knew where she was coming from. He thought about all the heartache Jules and Sam must have gone through. Getting together, breaking up, getting together again. And finally getting married. Well if they could do it then he could too! He glanced over at her, "I get it Jules."
She punched him in the arm, "I'm sure you do, boy genius, I'm sure you do."
With the infamous trip now just a couple weeks out, Spike decides to visit Boss, see how his rehabilitation is going. He stops and gets a pizza on the way over since Boss told him Marina would be working and he would be on his own for dinner. Spike's looking forward to their time together – get his mind off the fact that he's going on vacation with Winnie.
He knocks on the door of Boss's place.
"Spike! Come in, come in. Glad you decided to stop by." Boss is getting around pretty good with that cane.
"You're just glad I'm bringing food!"
"Yeah, well that too."
Spike follows Boss into the kitchen and places the pizza on the table. He thinks Boss looks a hell of lot better than he did a month ago.
Boss offers Spike something to drink. "C'mon, let's sit down for a bit. You can catch me up on what's going on at SRU."
Spike takes a seat across from Boss, "Like you don't already know. I'm sure Ed calls you every few minutes and fills you in on what's going on."
Boss just smiles at Spike, "Alright, alright. Could never pull the wool over your eyes. So, I hear you and Winnie are going on vacation together. Wanna tell me how that came about?"
Spike shifts uncomfortably in his seat. He knew the conversation would touch on this. His vacation seems to be the 'big news' at the barn. He sees different people stopping by Winnie's desk, probably asking her questions. They all seem to suddenly disappear when he approaches. Thinks maybe they're their asking her if she's lost her mind or something.
"What can I say? I asked and she agreed. Really nothing to tell. We're just friends." That seems to be the mantra he repeats. He's thinking he should mention the pizza – if Boss is eating he can't ask questions. He doesn't want Boss to profile him.
Boss just chuckles, "Spike, let me share my perceptions. It's not like I wasn't aware that you were paying more attention to Winnie than usual."
"I wasn't –"
"Just hear me out Spike. I like Winnie. She's a great girl. You could do a lot worse - but not better."
Spike looked down at his hands on his lap, "I get it Boss. Just, I don't know if she feels the same about me."
"Let me remind you of something. A while ago a tall blonde asked you to go away for a weekend at a cabin, sound familiar?"
Spike knows he's talking about Natalie and the time she called him to ask him that. Because of the trouble that happened afterwards, Boss had Winnie pull his end of their conversation from the auto-transcripter. Great! Isn't it just dandy when everyone knows your business! Spike looks at Boss as he continues –
"What answer did you give Natalie?"
"I told her I wasn't ready for weekends at cottages." Spike thinks Boss already knows this – just wants to make a point.
"That's right. So doesn't it make sense that maybe Winnie is thinking of moving beyond friends? Seeing that she agreed to this vacation."
Spike's brow is furrowed – he's trying to rationalize what Boss said. Maybe Winnie is ready for that. But then again –
"I know I wouldn't go all the way to Italy with someone – to meet family no less – unless that person meant more to me that just being a friend." Boss was looking at Spike as he said this, seeing if it was sinking in.
"I don't know. Maybe you're right. Maybe I should –"
"Maybe you should just let what's going to happen, happen. You may be surprised." With that Boss reached for the pizza, "Now, let's see how good this is!"
